Boat beaching and anchoring techniques and mechanisms



Nov. 13, 1962 v. P. VALLQU IST 3,053,402 BOAT REACHING AND ANCHORING TECHNIQUES AND MECHANISMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 31, 1960 INVENTOR. V/NCf/YT P/l/[l/P VAllQl/IST l/Loflb OM51 W A TTOP/YfYS Nov. 13, 1962 v. P. VALLQUIST 3,063,402

BOAT BEACHING AND ANCHORING TECHNIQUES AND MECHANISMS Filed Aug. 31, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. W/YCf/YT P///Z UP 141110067 Wm A United States Patent M Filed Aug. 31, 1960, Ser. No. 53,132 15 Claims. (CI. 1157) The present invention relates to marine craft beac-hing, unbeaching, anchoring and retrieving techniques, and mechanisms for practicing such techniques, including a portable reeling mechanism implantable on the beach and operatable for unbeaching purposes from either on the beach or on board the boat, such reeling mechanism in the particular, illustrative form disclosed comprising two independently operable reeling devices respectively carrying haulback and retriever lines, the haulback line being led through pulley means attachable to the anchor means of the boat. Construction details of the reeling mechanism also includes a post means on which the reeling devices are mounted, which post means is provided at the top thereof with hand grip means, and at the lower end thereof with a pointed end and combination foot rest and depth stop facilitating placement thereof on the beach.

The boat manipulating techniques and reeling mechanism characteristic of the invention address the often difficult and sometimes even dangerous boat handling problem involved in manipulating a boat onto and off of a beach. At present, it is common practice to simply beach the boat and leave it on the beach, or anchor offshore and go ashore in a smaller boat, or to ashore by wading. Such be'aching practices are often quite impractical and to be avoided if possible. Further, the beached boat is often extremely difficult to get off the beach, particularly when wave action is heavy and/0r there is a strong onshore wind.

The present invention has as one principal objective, feature, and advantage, the provision of a boat manipulating technique and mechanism whereby a boat can.

be beached then simply, effectively and safely unbeached irrespective of whether the occupant desires to unbeach the boat while embarked or disembarked.

As a directly related aspect of the invention stemming from its capability of unbeaching the boat while disembarked, the present invention provides as another principal feature and advantage thereof a technique and means whereby a boat can be beached, then disembarked, then placed at anchor in the nearshore area off the beach, then retrieved, then embarked and again placed underway.

As a further related aspect and feature of the present invention, the boat manipulating mechanism provided by the invention utilizes a haulback linewove through pulley means bottomed in the nearshore area near the beach so that the taking in of the haulback line from either a point on the beach or a position on board the boat inherently provides a leverage advantage in terms of the maximum available unbeaching force applied to the boat even though the unbeaching be an entirely manual operation.

Further features and advantages of the present invention are found in the simple, lightweight, easily stowable reeling mechanism involved, in the non-fouling line arrangement presented, and in inherent safety consideration-s pertaining to the double line moorage of a boat placed at nearshore anchor by the technique of the invention.

Additional features and advantages characteristic of the invention reside in a full use flexibility inherent from the nature of the manipulating mechanisms employed, as to whether the boat is brought to the beach bow on, stern on or even side on, and as to whether the boat 3,063,402 Patented Nov. 13, 1962 is placed at anchor either bow on or stem on to the anchor as desired.

These and other objects, features, advantages and characteristics attributable to and inherent in the present invention will be apparent from the following description of certain techniques and mechanisms for practice thereof, as presented by way of typical and therefore non-limitive example in the following description, wherein like alphabetical and numerical designations refer to like parts, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view in vertical cross section and elevation of the mechanism and rigging arrangement characteristic of the invention, showing the arrangement thereof for securing a boat at anchor in the nearshore area off a beach in a manner so as to be readily retrieved and returned to the beach;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view on an enlarged scale of the reeling mechanism, haulback and retriever lines, anchor attached pulley means and a fragment of the anchor means shown in FIG. 1;

'FIG. 3 is a view in vertical elevation of the reeling mechanism shown in FIG. 1, with certain parts (principally the reels and lines) shown in cross section;

FIG. 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic series of plan views showing a typical sequence in the beaching, unbeaching and anchoring of a boat by a technique characteristic of the invention, such sequence proceeding from the initial approach of the boat toward the beach to return of the boat to anchor in the nearshore area with the boat secured at anchor, the right-hand view in the series presented by FIG. 4 corresponding to the view thereof presented at FIG. 1, and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary isometric View of a modified form of haulback line rigging, for further increasing the available unbeaching force.

Turning now to a more detailed consideration of the nature of the manipulating techniques and mechanisms characteristic of the present invention, and to the particular illustrations thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, it will be understood that a typical beach terrain involves a beach B, a shoreline SL and a nearshore area NS off the beach. As also shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the general combination involved in practice of the present invention involves, in connection with a boat or craft C, a haulback line HB led through a pulley means P attached to the boat anchor means A, and a retriever line R, said haulback line HB and retriever line R being led to and taken in or let out from a reeling mechanism RM which can be manipulated either on board the boat C (as shown in the three left-hand views of FIG. 4) or from the beach (as shown in FIG. 1 and the three right-hand views of FIG. 4).

As shown at FIGS. 2 and 3, the reeling mechanism RM (also termable a tree because of its general appearance at a distance and its manner of emplacement on the beach in use) comprises two independently operatable reel devices 10 and 12, each rotatable about a common axis provided by shaft 14 through a post or upright 16 in the upper central portion thereof, said reels 10 and 12 being removably mounted on said shaft 14 by wing nuts 18 and 20, spacers 22 and 24 being situated inboard of reel devices 10 and 12 to provide adequate spacing thereof from post 16. Respective hand grips 26 and 28 are also provided on the outboard sides of reel devices 10 and 12 near the edges thereof to facilitate rotation of the reel devices by the user.

hand grip means 34 having an axial bore to snugly receive and store a reel locking pin 36 when said reels and 12 are to be rotated, such locking pin 36 when used for securing either one or both of said reel devices 10 and 12 against rotation being insertable through alignable apertures in reel devices 10 and 12, the outboard such aperture in reel device 12 being indicated in FIG. 2 at 38, and an aperture 40 in post 16, the position of said locking pin 36 when securing both reel devices 10 and 12 against rotation being indicated at FIG. 3 at 36. As will be apparent, either of the reel devices 10 and 12 can be secured against rotation without securing the other by inserting said locking pin 36 only through the secured reel and aperture 40, as desired.

Coiled on reel 10 is a suitable length, say 100 feet, of retriever line R, the free end of said line R terminating in a hook 42 or other suitable device for attachment thereof to boat C. Coiled on reel device 12 is a suitable length, say 200 feet, of haulback line HB, the length of haulback line HB preferably being about twice the length of retriever line R in that the maximum extent of playout of said haulback line HE is about double the maximum playout of retriever line R in use of the device, as will be more apparent from the detailed description of its manner of use, as presented below in connection with FIG. 4.

The size and consequent strength of the retriever line R and haulback line HB is determined by the size of boat C to be handled. For example, one-quarter inch nylon line has been found quite suitable for handling boats up to about feet in length. And, for reasons which will appear with respect to the operation of the device to move a boat off a beach, haulback line HB should be substantially stronger than retriever line R. In a typical arrangement, haulback line HL has a test strength of about 1200 pounds and retriever line R has a test strength of about 800 pounds. It is of course self-evident that the lengths, sizes and strengths of haulback line HB and retriever line R can be varied to meet particular operating requirements.

Retriever line R and haulback line HL are preferably coiled upon reel devices 10 and 12 in respectively reverse directions, as shown at FIG. 2, so that the normal manner of operating, involving one line being taken up on one reel and the other line being let out from the other reel, can occur by rotation of the reels substantially in unison.

As shown in FIG. 2, haulback line HE is led through pulley means P in turn attached to the boat anchor means A, and terminates in a hook 44 or the like, by means of which it is suitably attachable to the boat C. Pulley means P suitably comprises a nylon sheave 46 and a swivel hook 48 by which such can be removably fastened to a suitable point of anchor means A, such as at ring 50 thereof, it being of course apparent that said pulley means P can be secured to anchor means A in any other desired manner.

With respect to pulley means P, it has been found advantageous to provide nylon or like inserts 52 inside the sheave trunnions 54 thereof to positively prevent any possibility of the haulback line HB being pinched between sheave 46 and a trunnion 54. It is preferable to use nylon line for haulback line HB because such type of line is notably non-kinking. With such nylon line and a pulley means P such as shown, along with swivel hook '46 and inserts 52, actual use has demonstrated the haulback line arrangement to be remarkably non-tangling.

Typical techniques for use of the reeling mechanism RM illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 4, having particular reference to FIG. 4, wherein is presented a series of somewhat diagrammatic views illustrating the sequence of use involved. While proceeding toward the beach B in the nearshore area NS, as shown in the lefthand view of FIG. 4, and with reeling mechanism RM in a holding device 60 therefor near the stern of boat C (which holding device 69 can be a simple, braced tube receiving the lower end of pOS 16), hook 44 of haulback line HE is snapped onto a cleat or eye on the boat, preferably at a stern location as at 62, and swivel hook 48 of pulley means P is snapped onto the ring 50 of the boat anchor means A. Also, book 42 of retriever line R is attached to the boat, preferably to a bow eye or cleat 64, at any suitable time, either on the way in to the beach or after the boat is beached. With the reeling mechanism and haulback and retriever lines thus rigged, anchor means A is dropped in nearshore area NS a suitable distance offshore, say about feet, for example. Then, as the boat proceeds toward the beach, haulback line HE is played out and hook 44 thereof preferably moved to the bow eye or cleat 64, as shown in the view second from left in FIG. 4. As will be apparent, the boat C can be brought onto the beach bow-on, sternon or side-on, as desired, it being preferable in SOmC IIlstances to bring the boat C in stern first for disembarkmg, and such attitude of the boat is shown in the central views of FIG. 4, also by way of example. Though the boat C can be maneuvered in any desired manner while moving toward the beach B, the turning of the boat C around, as shown in the view of FIG. 4 second from the left, will often naturally occur if the boat is simply allowed to drift onto the beach.

With the boat C beached, the reel mechanism RM is removed from its holder 60 and taken onto the beach, as shown in the view of FIG. 4 fourth from the left, the reel mechanism RM being implanted in the beach ground above the high water mark of shoreline SL (also see FIG. 1). Placement of reel mechanism RM in the beach ground can be accomplished in a manner very similar to the manner of use of a shovel, foot rest 32 and hand grip means 34 permitting both hand and foot pressure for such emplacement. Preferably, said reel mechanism RM 15 emplaced so as to tilt slightly away from the water to improve its holding action.

With reel mechanism RM thus in place on the beach B, should it be desired that the boat C be placed at anchor for a time, then reel devices 10 and 12 are rotated by the user to haul in on haulback line HB and let out on retriever line R so that the boat C is hauled off the beach and proceeds back out into the nearshore area NS as shown in the view of FIG. 4 fifth from the left. Such unbeaching action continues until the boat C is in the nearshore area NS at a proper distance from anchor means A to be held at anchor thereby without dragging. With respect to a proper anchorage rigging it will immediately be recognized by those in the art that the ang e of haulback line HB between anchor means A and boat C as shown in the view of FIG. 1 is too abrupt. For illustration purposes, however, the presented illustrations intentionally are not to scale, in order to show with as much clarity as possible other details of the arrangement.

With the boat C in proper position to remain at anchor, haulback line HB and retriever line R are secured by locking reels 12 and 10 against rotation by means of locking pin 36. Shou d water and wind conditions so dictate, haulback line HB can be doubly secured by also tying such to any heavy object on the beach, such as log L, the resulting arrangement with the boat C at anchor being shown in the right-hand view of FIG. 4 and in FIG. 1. Retriever line R can of course be similarly double secured if appropriate.

The placement of hook 44 of haulback line HB at the bow of boat C provides for a normal attitude of the boat C when at anchor, it being of course the tendency of any boat thus moored to be kept with its bow into the wind, by wind and wave action. However, it will be apparent that boat C can be anchored stern-on to the anchor by moving hook 44 to a stern location, if desired.

When it is desired to return the boat C to the beach B, the haulback and retriever line HB and R are unsecured by untying haulback line HB from log L and by removing lock pin 36, then retriever line R is taken in and haulback line HB let out until the boat C is again at the beach B. Reeling mechanism RM is then removed from the beach B and placed back on board boat C, whereupon haulback line HE is taken in on reel device 12 until the boat is pulled oil? the beach and afloat in the nearshore area NS, the manipulating sequence involved in this operation being generally portrayed in thesequence respectively shown by the third, second and first views from the left in FIG. 4, haulback line HB of course being taut during this unbeaching operation. Upon return of boat C to substantially the position shown in the left-hand view of FIG. 4, anchor means A can be hoisted and boat C is then in condition to be fully underway.

One very important advantage of the arrangement and technique here presented is found in the additional leverage or purchase available for unbeaching a boat. This additional purchase or leverage makes practical an entirely manual operation, even for boats of considerable size, and even when the user is alone. Anyone with small boat experience is well aware of the very serious difiiculty of getting off the beach where strong wave action, often coupled with a strong onshore wind, is encountered. The purchase or leverage action available by the arrangement of haulback line HB through pulley means P in effect substantially doubles the pulling force exerted on the boat C, as compared with the hauling force exerted on haulback line'HB at reel device 12. By virtue of the arrangement involving anchor attached pulley means P, the mechanism and technique is fully operable by a user when alone, and under conditions where it'would be-simply impossible for one man to unbeach a boat since, of course, he cannot be on board to operate the boat propulsion means and also be ashore to unground the boat at the same time.

As a refinement of the additional leverage action characteristic of the invention, it will be readily understood that further increase in the leverage action can be accomplished by compounding the pulley means through which haulback line HE is led. Thus, by way of a further example in this respect, FIG. 5 fragmentarily illustrates such an arrangement where the pulley means P attached to anchor mean A comprises two sheaves 70 and 72 operated in conjunction with a single sheave 74 of a pulley means P" in turn attached to boat C by a swivel hook 42, with the end 76 of haulback line HR in this instance being secured to said pulley means P". From such arrangement, and as will be evident, the increase in effective unbeaching force is substantially eightfold. Of course, such arrangement requires a comparable increase of the length of haulback line HB, the length requirement of haulback line HB for the arrangement shown in FIG. 5 being about four times the length required for the associated retriever line. However, the line holding capacity of reel device 12 on which holdback line HE is coiled can be readily increased simply by increasing the width thereof, for example, and the order of unbeaching leverage available from a compound pulley arrangement such as shown at FIG. 5 presents a very practical capability, particularly for boats of quite considerable size and for heavy weather use, such as employed by the US. Coast Guard in motor whaleboat search and rescue beaching operations, for example.

Another important feature of the beach anchorage arrangement shown, as at FIG. 1 and in the right-hand view of FIG. 4, is that a boat C thus at anchor is in effect double moored, providing a significant safety feature against a problem often encountered in nearshore area anchoring, i.e. loss of the boat by a single anchor line parting or becoming unsecured, or by the anchor simply dragging. In the anchoring arrangement shown, should either haulback line HB or retriever line R part or become unsecured, the other serves to keep the boat from leaving the nearshore area NS or, should the anchor means A drag, both lines HB and R still tether the boat.

With respect to the beaching, unbeaching and nearshore anchoring techniques characteristic of the invention, it is readily foreseeable and recognizable that other mechanisms and arrangements than those disclosed and discussed can be evolved for practice of the invention. Thus, for example, the boat manipulation to beach, unbeach and anchor a boatmuch in the manner portrayed by the series of views presented at FIG. 4 can be accomplished without any reeling mechanism RM whatsoever, simply by handling haulback line HB and retriever line R as loose coils, the lines in such latter event being simply secured to a beach object when the boat is at anchor. Accordingly, the boat manipulation techniques and concepts here presented are to be construed as by no means limited to use of the particular mechanism here disclosed for practice thereof, in that, at least in some respects, the line handling involved can be done differently, even entirely manually.

From the foregoing discussion and accompanying illustrations, other and further variations, modifications, features, advantages and attributes of the manner of practice of the invention and the mechanisms used in conjunction therewith will be apparent to those skilled in the art, within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of beaching and unbeaching a boat, comprising attaching one end of a haulback line to the boat after leading such through pulley means in turn attached directly to a boat anchor, bottoming such anchor in the nearshore area off the beach, beaching the boat while letting out said haulback line, the said haulback line thereby being disposed along the bottom in the nearshore area while the boat is beached so as to not impede olfshore trafiic, disembarking and emplacing said haulback line on the beach, and unbeaching said boat by taking in on said haulback line.

2. The method of manipulating a beachable boat onto and off of a beach, comprising attaching one end of a haulback line to the boat after leading such through pulley means in turn attached directly to a boat anchor, bottoming such anchor in the nearshore area off the beach, attaching one end of a retriever line to the boat, beaching the boat, taking said haulback and retriever lines onto the beach, returning said boat to anchor in the nearshore area by taking in on said haulback line, then securing said haulback line on the beach, and there after taking in on said retriever line while allowing said haulback line to play out and lie along the bottom when the boat is again at the beach, embarking said haulback and retriever lines on the boat, hauling in on said haulback line until the boat is returned to near the anchor, and hoisting said anchor to again place the boat in condition to be fully underway with said lines and anchor on board.

3. In combination with a :beachable boat aground on a beach with its anchor bottomed in the nearshore area off the beach, means for manipulating said boat off the beach, comprising a haulback line led from a reeling mechanism on the beach through a pulley directly attached to said anchor with the end of said haulback line attached to the beached boat with the haulback line lying along the bottom in the nearshore area when the boat is beached so as to not impede nearshore traflic, the unbeaching of the boat being accomplished by taking in of said haulback line on said reeling mechanism Ibeing portable so that said haulback line can be thus manipulated with said reeling device either on the beach or embarked on the boat.

4. The combination of claim 3, further comprising a reeling mechanism holding device on said boat near the stern thereof, in which said reeling mechanism is placed when manipulated on board said boat.

5. In combination with a beachable boat aground on a beach with its anchor bottomed in the nearshore area off the beach; mechanism for manipulating said boat 01f the beach and securing same at anchor in said nearshore area, comprising a haulback line led along the bot-tom from a portable reeling device on the beach through a pulley directly attached to said anchor and then led back along the bottom with the end thereof attached to the boat, the unbeaching of the boat being accomplished by taking in of said haulback line on said reeling device, said reeling device further including means for securing the haulback line thereon when said boat has been pulled off the beach and is afloat in said nearshore area.

6. Means for-embarking upon and getting underway in a boat placed at nearshore anchor off a beach by the mechanism of claim 5, said means being rigged in conjunction with said mechanism and comprising a second reeling device on the beach, and a retriever line attached at one end to said boat and led directly to said second reeling device, said second reeling device serving as means for taking in said retriever line while letting out said haulback line to return the boat to the beach so that said reeling devices can be embarked upon the boat, whereupon said first mentioned reeling device serves as means for taking in said haulback line to move the boat off the beach into the nearshore area, after which the said anchor means can be hoisted on board to render the boat fully underway with the anchor and lines on board.

7. Mechanism according to claim 6, wherein means are provided for securing said reel devices against rotation to selectively secure said haulback and retriever lines at any desired play-out lengths.

8. Mechanism according to claim 7, wherein such securing means comprises aligned apertures in said reel devices and a post means, and a locking pin removably placed in such aligned apertures.

9. Mechanism according .to claim 6, wherein a post means mounts at the top thereof a transversely disposed hand grip means.

10. Mechanism according to claim 8, wherein said post means mounts at the top thereof a transversely disposed hand grip means having an axial bore to snugly receive and store said locking pin when the latter is not in use.

11. Mechanism according to claim 6, wherein said reeling devices are journaled for rotation on a common shaft passing transversely through a post means in the upper central portion thereof and a transversely extending foot rest and depth stop means is attached to said post means at the lower central portion thereof.

12. Mechanism according to claim 11, wherein said post means mounts hand grip means at the top thereof and terminates at its lower end in a pointed tip facilitating implantment thereof in the ground on the beach.

, 13. The method of un-beaching a boat, characterized by hauling in a line led from the boat along the bottom nearshore, and through a pulley directly attached to an anchor bottomed offshore of the beach.

14. The method of unbeaching a boat, characterized by hauling in a line led from the boat, along the bottom nearshore, and through pulley means directly attached to an anchor bottomed offshore of the beach.

15. The method of unbeaching a boat, characterized by manually hauling in a line to the beach from compound line and pulley means strung directly between said boat and an anchor bottomed offshore of the beach.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Smith Aug. 15, 1882 Christensen Sept. 5,1899 

